mash-related stories
Posted Nov 12th 2009 3:04PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, Web, Reality-Free
I know, I know, you're thinking, those are the only two choices I get,
Happy Days and
Gilligan's Island? Yes, according to this poll over at AOL Television. For the past several weeks they've
pit various TV show theme songs against each other in a tournament, and the two finalists, for some reason, are
Happy Days theme and the
Gilligan's Island theme.
Now, it seems like these aren't the "best" theme songs, just the ones that readers and TV fans thought were the most iconic, or maybe it's the fact that they both have lyrics and that's what readers were looking for?
Continue reading What's the best TV theme of all-time, Happy Days or Gilligan's Island?
Posted Oct 28th 2009 10:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free
For the longest time, I've kvetched about the fact that the television industry has stopped programming for Saturday night. For years, Saturday was a great night of television. I remember
M*A*S*H and
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, not to mention guilty pleasures like
The Facts of Life and
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Even NBC's thrillogy,
The Pretender and
Profiler were fun. All those shows were Saturday night hits (some bigger than others).
Well,
I'm not alone in missing Saturday TV; Oscar-winner Barry Levinson feels the same. Levinson is also a TV producer -- he did
Homicide: Life on the Street and
The Philanthropist -- and he thinks the networks are making a big mistake by not seizing on Saturday primetime. He knows the business pretty well and he's confused by the networks' strategy.
"I don't think the answer is to retreat," he told the New York Daily News. "When you give up Saturday night, you open the door for people to go somewhere else. Basically, they're shrinking their own audience."
Continue reading Barry Levinson urges TV to take back Saturday night
Posted Sep 15th 2009 2:04AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Obituaries, Reality-Free
Some more sad news from Tinseltown. Movie star and recent television star
Patrick Swayze has lost his 20 month battle with pancreatic cancer at his ranch in Los Angeles. He was 57 years old.
Barbara Walters will air the actor's final television interview in a one hour special titled
Last Dance tonight at 10 PM eastern/9 PM central on ABC.
He's probably best known for his work on the big screen in movies like
Ghost,
Dirty Dancing and (of course) the timeless
Road House, a movie that became a cult sensation for all the wrong reasons and helped birth the sense of humor of
MST3K and
Rifftrax's Michael J. Nelson. But like all Hollywood actors, he made his presence known on the small screen, and his reach goes much further than his recent venture into cable drama glory with
A&E's The Beast.
Continue reading Patrick Swayze succumbs to pancreatic cancer at 57
Posted Sep 12th 2009 8:42AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TV Royalty, Obituaries, Reality-Free
Yesterday brought sad news for anyone who's a comedy writer, aspired to be a comedy writer, or just appreciated a well-turned and funny phrase.
Larry Gelbart passed away; he had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. He died at his Los Angeles home yesterday morning at the age of 81.
Gelbart is probably best known for his writing on
M*A*S*H during its early years. The almost lyrical comedic dialogue he gave Hawkeye, Trapper, and the rest of the gang is what drew me to the show, and he influenced almost everyone who worked on the show afterwards, including FOS (Friend of Squad) Ken Levine, who was just "too devestated" to write
a tribute on his blog (expect one on Monday, though).
Continue reading Larry Gelbart dead at 81
Posted Apr 23rd 2009 3:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, TV Royalty, Programming, Reality-Free
I know, I know, that's an impossible question to answer. But
Harris just conducted a poll where they asked people what their favorite shows are. Topping the list are shows like
M*A*S*H,
Seinfeld,
Friends,
House,
Star Trek, and
The Simpsons. The number one show?
CSI. Yeah, that's my thought exactly. What, do these people have long-term memory loss?
My list would include
The Dick Van Dyke Show,
The Simpsons,
Seinfeld,
The Twilight Zone,
The West Wing,
The Andy Griffith Show,
NewsRadio,
Sports Night,
Lost,
Magnum, P.I.,
Kate and Allie, and
Columbo. Oh, and
Mad Men and
30 Rock have zoomed onto the list in the past couple of years. What's on your all-time list?
Posted Apr 14th 2009 5:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free
AOL has chosen the
best TV shows of the 1980s, and it's not a bad list. But I'm sure everyone reading this will have their own thoughts.
Sure, there are shows that were my favorites I'd like to see on the list, but those would be personal choices. The only problem I have is
where the shows place on the list. For example, is
Fraggle Rock really a better show than
Spenser: For Hire,
Miami Vice, and
Kate and Allie (even beyond the fact that it might be an odd show to compare to the other shows in the first place)? Is
Facts of Life better than
MacGyver?
Continue reading What are the best TV shows of the 1980s?
Posted Mar 31st 2009 3:25PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: OpEd, House, Reality-Free
Writing an episode of a show as literally seen through another character's eyes, a point of view episode, seems like an obvious stunt. That is, unless you can pull it off as brilliantly as
House did last night. The episode unfolded mainly through the POV of a man with "locked-in syndrome," played by guest star Mos Def.
The big advantage of telling a story that way is, obviously, to get inside the head of one person, and get their insight into everything that's going on. Unfiltered, in real time.
Scrubs plays with the point of view all the time, but when you stick with one long enough, it changes the feel of the story. In the first episode of season five, "
My Intern's Eyes,"
Scrubs used the point of view of an intern, Keith, to show how awkward and frightening Sacred Heart could be. That was a great transition as J.D became an attending. We got to see J.D.'s new role, plus get a reminder of how the show began. The best of both worlds.
Continue reading House, from another point of view
Posted Mar 31st 2009 3:06PM by Eliot Glazer
Filed under: Battlestar Galactica, Video, Reality-Free
For those us
Battlestar Galactica nerdz, we're still feeling frakked up, teary-eyed and sniveling following the series' recent exit stage right.
Ron Moore laid the show to rest with dignity and deserved pride, which is why our posting the following video might appear silly, childish, and self-indulgent to some.
But still, if you haven't yet seen it, the combination of
Muppet and Cylon is a marriage made in LOLheaven, and we can't let Adama and co. get away without witnessing a giant Animal enacting a nuclear holocaust across the twelve colonies. While there are plenty of mash-ups floating around YouTube, this one has most definitely stood the test of time (less than two years, that is), considering that it combines
Bear McCreary and Jim Henson (which is essentially something we've been waiting for since the very moment Six blew up the planets and stuff in the
BSG miniseries).
Match made in heaven? So say we all.
Continue reading One more thing, Battlestar Galactica - VIDEO
Posted Mar 30th 2009 12:25PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free
Everyone loves lists, and everyone has an opinion, so it's not always nice or productive to point out that another person's list might be lacking in some way. Having said that, let's talk about how this list is lacking in some way.
It's a list of the
10 best series finales of all-time. I'll get right to the point:
Newhart should be on this list.
Continue reading What's missing from this list of the best series finales?
Posted Feb 20th 2009 3:05PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: TV Squad Lists, Casting, Reality-Free
It's hard to see beloved characters leave your favorite shows. You have created a bond with them, perhaps even projected their values onto yourself in an effort to raise the self esteem you had before, say, you fell down the
Law & Order rabbit hole and started to believe the shows were actual news and not just "ripped from the headlines." But change is inevitable, and sometimes, it works out. Here are a few that worked (at least for me).
1. Current cast of Law & Order: I know, I know, who could replace Lenny Briscoe? No one, really. But the current pairing of Anthony Anderson and Jeremy Sisto as NYPD partners is the best the series has produced. They changed the feel of the show. Perhaps because we're still getting to know them, they are less predictable then previous tandems, and both evoke a certain hard-nosed quality that seems a bit more gritty and real. Plus, Anderson has chops as a stand-up comic, and could easily fill the wisecracker role, if need be.
Continue reading Seven of TV's best replacements
Posted Dec 4th 2008 8:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Awards, Reality-Free
You mean
Bea Arthur wasn't already in the TV Academy Hall of Fame before today? Well, actually, that was Bea's choice. In a very
Maude-like way, she had turned them down. "I said, `So sorry, very nice of you, but I can't possibly accept. There are so many talented people in the business,'" Arthur recalled.
However, she's had a chance to think it over and when asked again, she agreed to become a Hall of Famer, just like Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson and Bill Cosby.
As I wrote previously, the TV Academy Hall of Fame will expand to include Bea Arthur, Merv Griffin, Larry Gelbart (
M*A*S*H), Sherwood Schwartz (
Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch), and ABC executives Thomas Murphy and Daniel B. Burke. On December 9 in Beverly Hills, the awards will be presented.
Continue reading And then there's Maude...in the TV Hall of Fame
Posted Dec 1st 2008 5:02PM by Richard Keller
Filed under: OpEd, The Shield, Reality-Free
Last week another terrific cable drama, The Shield, took its final bow in a series finale that still has fans talking. The talk is mostly about the last three minutes, which featured Vic Mackey's silent contemplation of the life he now leads after losing his friends, family and, some say, his freedom. Right before the screen went dark we saw Vic stride out of the cubicle that is now his home -- unsure of what his fate would be from now on.
Some fans of the series were unhappy with this ending, saying that there was no closure to the life that Vic had led over the last seven seasons. Some hearken the ending to the now-famous series finale of The Sopranos, which featured several seconds of nothingness before the credits rolled. This concept of not giving finality to a series finale is a new one for viewers to grasp onto. But, when you look at it further, it makes complete sense. Why should the lives of our favorite characters come to a complete ending when our own lives don't?
Continue reading Why do series finales have to be so final?
Posted Nov 23rd 2008 5:02PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Reality Shows, Programming, TV on DVD, OpEd, 24, Fringe
Oh my. So much to be thankful for, even though the fall season hasn't been all that great. Here's my list:
Rogue agents. It's been Far.Too.Long since Jack Bauer has entered our living room, and we couldn't be more gleeful about his return - both the
24 movie and the series in January. Welcome back, Jack! We missed you! Well, my son and I have! My daughter and husband don't get you, but that's ok!
Mad scientists. That crazy Walter Bishop really brightens up our Tuesday nights around here. My son goes to school on Wednesday, talks about
Fringe with his buddies, then texts me back their thoughts on The Observer, the cylinders, Massive Dynamic and all the rest. Of course, Walter is the best thing about the show. We love him.
Continue reading What Jane is thankful for
Posted Nov 17th 2008 1:24PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Video, Reality-Free
I think this is probably the 50th or 60th post about
TV theme songs we've done here at TV Squad, either lists of our own or stories about other lists on the web. But it's one of the great all-time TV debates among fans so it's good to revisit the topic every few months.
Paste has the latest list, their
40 best TV theme songs of all-time. Oh, we could talk about this for hours (and we probably will), but there are four thoughts that come immediately to mind after reading all 40 choices:
Continue reading What's the best TV theme song of all time? - VIDEO
Posted Sep 1st 2008 6:23PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Celebrities, Awards, Emmys, Reality-Free
As we've told you before, this is the 60th anniversary of the Emmy Awards. The September 21 show, telecast on ABC, will not only celebrate the Best Actresses and Best Dramas of the current prime time lineup, it will also celebrate the many stars and characters and shows of 10, 20, 40, 60 years ago.
ABC has created an ad that features a lot of those stars. A lot of the stars are easy to find and it's a no-brainer that they were included (Marge and Homer, Rod Serling, Dick Van Dyke, Stewie, the
South Park guys, etc), but I'm happy to also see some people I didn't think would be in such an ad: Guy Williams as Zorro, Robert Culp from
I Spy, Mike Connors from
Mannix, Tim Daly from
Wings, Wally Cox from
Mr. Peepers, among others.
Continue reading This year, the Emmys will feature everyone who has ever been on TV
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